Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the below bulleted outlines. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Athene warns Arachne, “Your talent has poisoned you with pride like the sting of a scorpion” (Part 1, Chapter 3).

• What general lesson about pride do the stories in this collection convey? (topic sentence)
• Explain Athene’s warning to Arachne and give evidence from the stories that shows how the fates of at least three characters support the message you explained in your topic sentence.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, show how this idea is related to the book’s concern with Moderation and Restraint as Ideals.

2. Throughout the collection, the strong attempt to prey on the weak.

• How do the stories in this collection show that there is more than one way for weaker people and gods to respond to predation by those stronger than themselves? (topic sentence)
• Offer evidence from at least two stories that demonstrate differing strategies the weaker party might choose and show how this leads to differing outcomes.